Due to many factors including increased use of manufacturing control and documentation systems, lot traceability, ease of use and item identification, customers require item specific information such as catalog number, lot and serial identification for each filter, media and component used in their process. Currently, techniques such as printing, engraving, laser marking, labeling and bar-coding are used to transfer this information to customers.
For filter cartridges and other products which are wholly in the fluid path during use, adhesives, inks or any foreign matter are extremely undesirable as they may leach extractable matter into the final product which needs to be identified, quantified and if at too high a level removed. Therefore engraving and laser marking are currently preferred to identify filter cartridges. Unfortunately, this requires the end user to manually read and write down or key in information. This process is subject to error because the engraving is difficult to read on the translucent part. Because of number of times a cartridge needs to be tracked through receiving, multiple uses, storage and disposal, customers are in need of a better way.
The use of wireless tags such as RFID tags is just being explored as a potential solution. Such tags generally comprise a wireless transponder of some type and an antenna, both of which are mounted to a card or other substrate and generally encapsulated in epoxy or urethane. These tags have been adhered to products through the use of adhesives, especially self-stick adhesives. The issue of adhesives especially in the fluid path remains. Additionally, adhesives tend to degrade over time and may fail losing the tag and making the entire system unworkable.
Recent advances in in-mold labeling combined with wireless identification technology offer a solution to the problem by eliminating traditional adhesive wireless tags and embedding wireless tags into the device itself, isolating it from the fluid streams. However, the tooling to make such a change is costly and needs to be specific to each part modified with a tag, thus slowing adoption and implementation.